Lately in the news there has been a lot of controversy about President Obama's Health Care Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). I'm really concerned about the rumors I've been hearing about the new law. During the last semester I've been studying a lot about the ACA in several of my classes and this semester my senior capstone is an exhaustive evaluation of it. I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but I am more familiar with the new law than a lot of people that I hear talking about it and I suppose that by the end of this semester I'll have more knowledge about it and its projected impact. There are a lot of misconceptions about it and I don't have time to address them all, so I'm just going to say that a lot of the rumors that I keep hearing that are against the ACA are complete hogwash. It appears to be political posturing by the Republicans who want to make the Democrats look bad in order to gain control of the Senate and the Presidency. I'm not emotionally attached to either political party because parties are only political organizations whose goal is to get power. I do favor the Democrats right now because they are the ones who seem to be more sensitive to the needs of the people. The ACA isn't a perfect law, but it is an important step in the right direction of helping to care for the needs of people.
This is what I believe because of my religious beliefs mostly. In the Book of Mormon, Moroni recorded a prophesy that reads For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and afflicted (Mormon 8:37). I believe that this characterizes the current political climate. While there is genuine concern about jobs and markets, this is no justification for neglecting the poor and needy. The scriptures say nothing about propping up companies and I don't feel like I should support a system that doesn't serve the needs of people. I believe that there are groups in the U.S. (health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies) who have put greed above service and this is why our health care system is in such bad shape and why there is such a need for reform. These same groups have made it their goal to defeat the ACA and are eager to use any dirty tactic they can conceive to do so. I'll probably have more to say about this as time goes on.
So true, thank you for this. Sadly most people listen to the media and take it as complete truth instead of realizing that it is someone's opinion. The best way to know what is complete truth is to study it for yourself. Granted the bill is 1999 pages but it is possible to read it. I'm sure you have the link to the bill but here it is http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf ,for those who do not.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I was a little bummed (it may address this- I haven't gotten through the whole thing) that they did not touch the high cost of lawsuits. However the things that they are changing involving insurance companies are great. Requiring lower premiums, raising the dependent coverage age limit, not allowing preexisting conditions to decline treatment or coverage, as well many other things. I can see why the insurance companies would be so worried.
I also like the idea of a public heath insurance for those who can not afford insurance otherwise. Lots of people can only find part time work, and do not have the option of insurance through the places that they work. After all anyone who owns a car/truck/van etc. has to have car insurance so really it should not be a problem to require everyone to have health insurance, it just needs to be cost effective.
I look forward to seeing your future posts on this.